233) Floating in the Holy Land

Afloat in the Dead Sea

 The ECIS conference was in Tel Aviv this year so I headed to Israel. After the conference, I took a tour over to the Dead Sea- which is a hoot. At 35% salt, *everyone* floats (even me). It is quite hard to "swim", in part because you can't splash or get this stuff in your eyes. But a deep water running motions works well!

Me at the West Gate at Masada - incredible place but a bit warm here in the start of the summer.









Sunrise over th Negev Desert. I was part of the doctoral consortium which stayed at Sde Boker kibbutz for three days. This was the 'back yard'.













Sunset over the valley.













A permanent waterhole in the nearby park. Swimming is not allowed and it closes at dusk to provide a haven for the animal population. A motion-camera has IDed some interesting things!



















A morning hike with the PhD students - good place to clear the mind! That is Adi Katz, the DC organizer leading the way!

Created Lark

Contemplating why people can't get along.... The keynote address was titled "Mystery, Money and Mercy". We have too little of the first, too much of the middle and none of the last. Things here are heating up again with a fair number of incendiary actions...Some people here are not very optimistic..

Sunset over the Med